Cassandra's Angel Book Tour Tries To Change The World In Maryland

TEMPLE HILLS, Md. (WJZ) -- A national book tour designed to teach kids to believe in themselves makes a stop in Maryland.

Gigi Barnett has more.

The music of Cassandra's story moves. From the moment students at Benjamin Stoddard Middle School in Prince George's County hear the lyrics, the simple message is clear.

"If someone doesn't believe in things you can do, as long as you believe in yourself, you can do anything," said one student.

The musical comes directly from the pages of the book "Cassandra's Angel." It's about a little girl whose personal angel teaches her strong self-esteem. Gina Otto wrote the story 10 years ago, while working in the film industry.

"One day I was working on a diet cola commercial and I had an awareness come through me like a lightning bolt---this is an industry that uses anorexic girls to sell diet cola to girls. And I quit," said Otto.

Now, with book in hand, Otto is on a 20-city tour, taking "Cassandra's Angel" from school to school. And when the music ends, the story doesn't. Otto asks students to pick a world issue---big or small---and change the world.

"Everybody wants to change the world. We all want to change the world. We don't know how and we don't have time," Otto said.

The next stops for the tour are Atlanta and Miami.